Page 28 of Master of Paradise
He stepped toward Clay Hampden and demanded,"How dare you?"
The youth swallowed hard and fled.
Nicholas led Amanda back to the other ladies.They were just in time to take their seats for the entertainment.Miss Heather Claremont of Magnolia Plantation began her solo. Hervoice was small, but very sweet and the piece she had picked wasappealingly nostalgic. It was a song designed to bring a tear tothe eye of anyone who was inclined toward the sentimental.
All at once there came the most intrusivesound that repeated itself at regular intervals. Necks craned andheads turned, albeit surreptitiously until one by one they realizedAmanda Virginia Jackson was hiccuping loudly.
The audience tried to keep a straight face,but gradually the murmur turned into a ripple of laughter, and thesinger, now mortified, could not be persuaded to give an encore, nomatter how enthusiastic the applause. After a hurried consultation,Mrs. Hampden persuaded a gentleman to sing his repertoire for them.He was obviously a baritone, but Nicholas missed his name entirely.Before his third selection, Nick noticed that Mandy was yawningopenly, and by the time Miss Charlotte Davis played her pianopiece, Mandy had fallen asleep, curled up in her chair. No onedisturbed her as they all filed past into the buffet supper.
Nicholas bent his head to Jennifer who waseating with Beau. "As soon as you are finished, we will beleaving."
She looked vexed enough to slap him, but saidsweetly enough, "Oh, I wanted to stay for the dancing. You goahead, Mr. Peacock; Beau will escort me home."
He smiled ruefully. "I'm afraid not. I alwaysleave with the lady I escorted."
There was such a note of finality in hisvoice, she did not dare protest further, and she noted with disgustthat Beau did not attempt to stand up to him.
Nicholas found his hostess and smoothlythanked her for the lovely evening. "I'm afraid Miss Amanda's firstgrown-up social event has been too much for her. I suspect it'slong past her bedtime." He picked up Mandy and carried her to thewaiting carriage.
She opened her eyes wide for one second, sawwho held her so securely, and went back to sleep instantly.
It was left up to Mammy Lou to gather herother charge and deliver her to the carriage. As soon as it beganto pull from the long driveway, Mandy screamed, "Ouch!" Now fullyawake, she gave Nicholas a bewildered look. "Did you pinch me?"
"No, I did!" Jenny was no longer able tocontain her temper. "I was never so humiliated in my whole life.Not satisfied to hiccup through Heather Claremont's solo, youyawned all the way through Mr. Burford Reeve's beautifulballads!"
"I tried to stop, but the more I tried, thefaster they came."
"What do you suppose a fan is for?" Jenniferdemanded. "Haven't you the sense to hid your yawns behind yourfan?"
"I... I lost it," Mandy lied.
Mammy Lou would have loved to add book andchapter to Mandy's shortcomings, but with Nicholas's censorious eyeupon her, she could only sit with her lips clamped shut.
"When mother hears what happened, she will beill again," Jennifer said. Her lips looked thin and cruel.
Nicholas drawled, "That would be unkind ofyou to deliberately make your mother ill. I question your motivesMiss Jackson."
The reprimand, coupled with the frustrationof sitting through such a boring evening, only to miss the dancing,proved her undoing. Jenny burst into tears. Used to men making afuss over her when she cried, she was surprised when Nicholascalmly handed her his handkerchief and gave his attention to hersister.
Under cover of the wide crinoline, Nicholastook Mandy's hand in his and gently squeezed it. She left her handin his all the way home, wishing everyone could be like him.
As the carriage turned into the JacksonPlantation, a far-off rumble of thunder could be heard. Amandaclutched at Nick's hand frantically and her face drained of color."There isn't going to be a storm, is there?" she whispered.
"I hope so," Jenny taunted. "It will bepunishment from the gods!"
"Whatever do you mean?" Nicholas asked.
"She's terrified of storms, didn't you know?Hides on the floor of her closet like a little wild animal."
Nicholas squeezed Amanda's hand before shebolted from the carriage. He felt as if he was abandoning her toface alone the wrath of the gods.
Chapter Seven
By Spring, twice as many acres at Paradisewere either drained or cleared for cotton planting. The new ginmill stood beside the stables, and a long row of a dozen sturdycabins housed Nicholas Peacock's men.
At the same time as the cotton seed wasplanted, Nicholas had hundreds of camellia cuttings he had begged,borrowed, and stolen from every garden in the county. He had laidout the ground work for a maze modeled after the one he had seen atHampton Court, only this one would be designed with camelliabushes.
This year Nick eschewed tobacco so he couldincrease the size of his cotton crop.Last year cotton broughttwelve cents a pound and there's every indication the price willrise this year.He was glad he'd cut out the middlemen whenselling his bales, but often mused about how much a pound he couldget if he shipped his own cotton to Liverpool.
